If the Japanese could really tell the truth and admit their mistakes, they would not be Japanese. Although he knew that Fang Lang had seen through their lies, Kodama Yoshio hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and speaking again:
“Okay, I’ll make a list for you when I get home tonight, and then take your people to the collectors to recover all the collections.
I just hope you can forgive me for my previous offense."
Hearing this, Fang Lang unconsciously revealed a smile of success, his eyes narrowed, and he spoke again with a smile:
"Very good. Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Kodama. My people will follow Mr. Kodama home tonight. I will only stay in Japan for a week this time. I hope that the things I want can be on board on time within a week. Is that ok?"
Kodama Yoshio, who was kneeling on the ground, could not see the expression on Fang Lang's face. He thought Fang Lang had believed his words, and was overjoyed. He breathed a long sigh of relief and quickly stood up to express his opinion:
"Hey! General Fang, please rest assured! We will load these Chinese antiques onto the ship within a week."
After hearing the other party's statement, Fang Lang smiled and nodded:
"Very good. When you take back the antiques you sold, don't forget to send over the antiques you collected."
...
...
Then he turned around and glanced at Shigemitsu Aoi beside him and said:
"Oh, and bring over what Mr. Shigemitsu promised to give me."
As soon as Fang Lang finished speaking, Kodama Yoshio, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly changed his expression and understood what Fang Lang meant. How could he be fooled by him? He was clearly trying to catch rabbits by robbing straw. Not only did he want the collections in his hands, but he also wanted her to find a way to collect Chinese antiques from other collectors for him. He even wanted the things in Shigemitsu Mamoru's hands who came with her.
But despite this, Kodama Yoshio did not dare to say anything more for a while. This Major General Fang was completely different from the Chinese he had met before. Not only was he greedy, but he was also thick-skinned and black-hearted. More importantly, he held terrifying power in his hands.
Today's Japan is no longer the same Japan as before. They don't even have a self-defense army, while the other side has a military contracting company that can take business from the US Department of Defense. This so-called military contracting company is actually mercenaries and can be regarded as the other side's private army.
A person with such power is almost invincible in Japan today. The only people who can provide them with asylum are Americans, but will Americans provide them with asylum? The answer is obvious.
This is also the reason why Kodama Yoshio surrendered so quickly. It was not even a surrender because they could not surrender twice. It was just a case of someone knowing the times.
"Hey! General, please rest assured. I will sort out my unsold collections and send them to you."
Shigemitsu Aoi, who was standing by, had just been released from prison. He didn't have many collections in his hands, and he had previously offered to give them to Fang Lang. Therefore, he didn't show any unusual emotions. He just knelt in the same place, straightened his back, and nodded heavily at Fang Lang:
"Hi! I will prepare my collection when I get home tonight. General, you can arrange for someone to pick it up at any time."
Fang Lang was a little surprised to see the two Japanese suddenly become so well-behaved. He knew that he was now very powerful, and arranging for the Whip of God military contracting company to enter the Japanese market was also a sudden inspiration to find a new way to make profits and control Japan.
But he still found it hard to believe that these two guys surrendered so easily. He thought about it and couldn't help but try again:
"Very good. To be honest, I am a Chinese in Brazil. My father and I are very fond of Chinese antiques. Our family has also built a Chinese cultural relics museum in Brazil. But there are still many missing collections.
I know that during this war of aggression against China, your country used various means to plunder a large number of precious cultural relics and works of art from China.
Since it is fate that I meet you two here today, I will have someone set up a collection company in Japan that specializes in purchasing cultural relics. I hope you two can help me collect all the Chinese cultural relics that have been stranded in Japan. I want to pack them all up and take them away.
If you can complete this task well, you will gain my friendship."
Fang Lang was determined to go all out and made a huge request, wanting the two guys to help him collect all the Chinese cultural relics lost in Japan. This behavior seemed extremely excessive to Kodama Yoshio and Shigemitsu Mamoru.
However, what Fang Lang was prepared to pay was just the so-called friendship. As for how much this friendship was worth, it was very illusory. Fang Lang actually learned this trick from the Morgan family.
After hearing what Fang Lang said, Kodama Yoshio and Shigemitsu Aoki were speechless for a long time. Such a request was really too much. Although Fang Lang talked a lot of nonsense, such as liking Chinese antiques and museums, these were all explained away. What he really wanted was a large portion of the wealth that Japan had obtained from China through the war in recent years.
This reminded Shigemitsu Aoki of the humiliation he suffered when he was negotiating surrender with the Allies. The humiliation at that time came from the national level, while the humiliation now is more on a private level.
However, surprisingly, Shigemitsu Aoki no longer had the strong sense of humiliation he had when he surrendered to the Allies for the first time. Perhaps it was because he had surrendered once that he seemed to no longer care about surrendering again. Therefore, he was not very angry about Fang Lang's request. Instead, he was very interested in the friendship that Fang Lang mentioned.
However, Kodama Yoshio was more angry than ever about Fang Lang's request, especially Fang Lang's attitude of pressing him step by step and making every inch of effort, which overshadowed his original fear of Fang Lang's power. His brain was filled with blood, and his eyes gradually turned red. He wished he could show his samurai spirit and die together with Fang Lang.
Just as he was thinking about how to reject this unreasonable request, John Clark on the side spoke first.
"General Fang's request, you two should think carefully before answering. You should know that not everyone is qualified to obtain General Fang's friendship."
As soon as these words were spoken, Shigemitsu Aoi, who was originally thinking about what the friendship that Fang Lang mentioned could bring him, immediately had his eyes brightened.
Although he didn't know what was so special about this young Brazilian Rear Admiral, a man who could even be reminded by a US Navy colonel was obviously not a simple person. In addition, from the previous conversation between the two, it could be seen that Fang Lang seemed to have a great influence on MacArthur, which forced him to start thinking seriously.
After all, Shigemitsu Mamoru is a politician. In his opinion, everything can be traded. What he has to do now is to weigh the pros and cons, calculate the gains and losses, and see how to maximize his own interests.
The Chinese antiques that Fang Lang wanted were not in his hands, nor were they his property, or even the property of the Japanese government. Instead, they were looted or purchased from China by the Japanese through various means.
He personally had no great interest in these cultural relics. The few collections in his home were also gifts from others, and he did not feel any pain in giving them away. Therefore, in his mind, the cultural relics in the hands of other Japanese were obviously not as important as the friendship he could gain from Fang Lang.
Then his choice would be very easy to make. After figuring out all this, Shigemitsu Aoi looked at Fang Lang, who still had a calm and unfathomable expression, impatiently and said:
"I wonder what substantial benefits General Fang's friendship can bring me?"
Shigemitsu Mamoru's words made Fang Lang see the greed of a politician, but Fang Lang didn't care about this greed at all. He knew that this guy was a Japanese Class A war criminal, but now that the Americans had released him, it meant that the Americans were ready to use those Japanese militarist war criminals to fight against the Soviet threat, which was only separated by a strait.
Under such circumstances, it is obviously impossible to prevent Japanese war criminals like Shigemitsu Mamoru from returning to the Japanese political stage.
After a period of digestion, Fang Lang had vaguely recalled some of this guy's experiences after he came out. If he remembered correctly, this guy became the new Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Japanese government after the Korean War.
Although he doesn't remember his specific experience, it is certain that this guy must want to return to politics.
But now it is 1949, and there is an insurmountable obstacle for him to return to politics. That is the "Public Office Expulsion Order" issued by the Allied Headquarters in Japan in 1946. The main content of this order is to prohibit World War II war criminals from holding public office, even if these war criminals have been punished and served their sentences. Re-election as a public official is not allowed.
The person most affected by this public office expulsion order was the later Japanese Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama. After Japan's surrender, this guy founded the Japan Liberal Party. In the first post-war general election, he won 141 seats in parliament and became the largest party in parliament.
According to parliamentary political conventions, he was the natural new Prime Minister of Japan, and he himself was convinced of this. Just as he was happily preparing to take the oath of office, the Allied Forces announced the "Public Office Expulsion Order", and he was forced to leave politics because he had served as a member of parliament during the war and published articles praising fascism.
An interesting thing happened here. Ichiro Hatoyama was forced to leave politics, but the Liberal Party he founded is still the largest party in parliament. Therefore, the new Japanese Prime Minister can only be elected from the Liberal Party.
At this time, a very dramatic scene happened. For his own interests, Ichiro Hatoyama did not elect a new president from the Liberal Party to serve as the new Prime Minister of Japan. Instead, he invited his best friend Shigeru Yoshida to join the Liberal Party and pushed Yoshida Shigeru, who was not even a member of parliament at the time, to the throne of Prime Minister of Japan.
Yoshida Shigeru assured Ichiro Hatoyama that as long as Ichiro Hatoyama could resume public office, he would immediately give up the position of prime minister to him.
But what is interesting is that when Ichiro Hatoyama resumed his public office, Yoshida Shigeru, who had already tasted power, had already gained a large number of followers in the Liberal Party after more than five years of operation. So, as expected, Yoshida Shigeru broke his promise.
He rejected Ichiro Hatoyama's wish to take back the position of Liberal Party president on the grounds that the position was a public institution and should not be transferred privately.
Of course, Hatoyama Ichiro was successfully elected as the Prime Minister of Japan in 1954, and behind him there was an inconspicuous supporter, Kodama Yoshio. By 1955, Hatoyama Ichiro reorganized the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party to form the later Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.
It was when Ichiro Hatoyama was prime minister that Shigemitsu successfully returned to politics and became the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the new government.
Of course, these are the realities, and Shigemitsu Mamoru certainly doesn't know where his future will lead him, but Fang Lang is sure that this guy's inner thoughts are definitely to return to politics. Therefore, Fang Lang already has an idea of how to control the other party without him having to speak.
When Fang Lang heard the other party asking what his friendship could bring him, he revealed an unfathomable smile.
"I know why you came to see John today, but I can tell you for sure that it's useless for you to find John."
Shigemitsu Aoi was a little surprised to see that Fang Lang did not directly answer his question, but instead said directly that he knew his purpose. However, after thinking about it, he was no longer surprised.
After all, his identity is there. As the former Japanese Foreign Minister, he tried every means to get out of Sugamo Prison. It is impossible that he simply wanted to live the rest of his life in mediocrity.
Fang Lang was able to say what he wanted, and it was obvious that he judged it based on this. Just as Fang Lang was about to control Shigemitsu Aoki, Kodama Yoshio beside him spoke directly.
"Mr. Shigemitsu, don't listen to this greedy guy's instigation. It's not surprising that he can guess the reason why you came here today. I believe that even if we don't say it, both of them can guess it. Otherwise, Colonel Clark would not deliberately avoid my topic today."
Obviously, Kodama Yoshio is different from Shigemitsu Mamoru. He is not a politician, but a soldier. Although he has left the army now, his military thinking has not changed so quickly. After sensing Fang Lang's intention to plunder Chinese antiques in Japan through them, he began to have a rebellious mentality towards Fang Lang.
Therefore, the attitude of fearing the other party's energy just now has changed, and there is a feeling of giving up hope.
Fang Lang was not angry when he heard this. After all, anyone with a little common sense could guess what Shigemitsu Aoi wanted, and this could not be used by Fang Lang to gain control of the other party.
"What if I said that my friendship could help you return to politics?"
Fang Lang's tone was calm, but his words were earth-shattering. Not only did the dissatisfied Kodama Yoshio show an expression of disbelief, but John beside him was also stunned.
After hearing Fang Lang's words, Shigemitsu Aoi stood up directly from the ground.
"Impossible! Have you never heard of Japan's "Public Service Expulsion Order"? People like us have no chance of returning to politics."
Kodama Yoshio was the first to speak out his inner thoughts in surprise. Shigemitsu Aoki also changed his expression to one of doubt.
John Clark on the side seemed to have thought of something and fell into deep thought.
Fang Lang didn't care about the reactions of several people. He still looked calm and nonchalant, saying "believe it or not".
Such performance made Kodama Yoshio and Shigemitsu Aoki a little unsure for a moment. The two began to exchange glances constantly, trying to find the source of Fang Lang's self-confidence.
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